Comic-Con International: San Diego or, as it is more commonly known, San Diego Comic-Con or simply SDCC, is a massive event. Each year presents attendees with a challenging exercise to determine which of the many simultaneous activities they can afford to miss. Comic-Con scheduling is particularly vexing in my case since I wear multiple hats. For Knowledge@Wharton I’m on the lookout for emerging business trends, which frequently sends me to many of the offsite marketing “activations” (as they are known). As a photographer for TwoMorrows’ Comic Book Creator and other magazines, I attend many of the comic book panels and autograph signings. And, of course, there are things of which I’m personally a fan, which often send me to the mammoth Hall H for the major movie and television properties.

Here is an overview of San Diego Comic-Con 2017 from my perspective. [Click on the images to view full photo albums.]

The Big Panels in Hall H

The most popular programming sessions at Comic-Con are held in the 6,500-seat Hall H.

On Friday, the cast of Twin Peaks: The Return took to the stage for “Twin Peaks: A Damn Good Panel.” Moderated by Damon Lindelof, the panel included Kyle MacLachlan, Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Dana Ashbrook, Kimmy Robertson, James Marshall, Everett McGill, Matthew Lillard, and Don Murray.

For the first Warner Bros. panel, Ready Player One, the curtains on the side walls pulled back to display a huge 180-degree video display that wrapped around the audience. Following a trailer for the upcoming film, moderator Chris Hardwick brought to the stage director Steven Spielberg; writers Ernest Cline and Zak Penn; and actors Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, and T.J. Miller.

The Blade Runner 2049 panel began with a display of a timeline of the events between the period of the first film (2019) and the upcoming sequel (2049). A version of this content can be seen at roadto2049.bladerunnermovie.com. Following this, the film’s trailer was screened, followed by a hologram-like projection of actor Jared Leto. Moderator Chris Hardwick then introduced director Denis Villeneuve; actors Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, and Lennie James; producers Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson; and screenwriters Hampton Fancher and Michael Green.

The final Warner Bros. presentation was for Justice League, which began with the stars of the forthcoming film charging down the center aisle past the Hall H audience to ascend the stage. Moderator Chris Hardwick first introduced Aquaman‘s Jason Momoa, who danced around with his trident like Jimi Hendrix on the guitar. Next up was Gal Gadot, followed by the rest of the cast: Ben Affleck, Ray Fisher, and Ezra Miller.

After Warner Bros., next up in Hall H was the “Women Who Kick Ass” panel. While this annual panel typically includes a group of female actors, this year it highlighted a single performer: Charlize Theron. After an extended clip from Atomic Blonde with Theron in an intense fight scene, the actor was interviewed by Sara Vilkomerson.

The Stranger Things panel showed a trailer for season 2 of the popular Netflix series and then brought to the stage an enormous panel of cast and crew: series creators Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer; actors Natalia Dyer, Shawn Levy, Joe Keery, Gaten Matarazzo, David Harbour, Caleb McLaughlin, Matthew Modine, Noah Schnapp, Finn Wolfhard, Dacre Montgomery, Millie Bobby Brown, Paul Reiser, and Sadie Sink; and moderator Patton Oswalt. Midway through the panel, Shannon Purser, who played Barb in the show’s first season, emerged from the audience to join the cast on stage.

The first part of the Marvel panel then focused on Thor: Ragnarok. Joining Fiege and Hardwick on stage were director Taika Waititi and actors Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Cate Blanchett, and Jeff Goldblum. An exclusive trailer was shown.

Although Fiege had initially stated the session would cover two films: Thor: Ragnarok and Black Panther, when Fiege began to sum up after the Black Panther cast exited the stage, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth, Chadwick Boseman, and Mark Ruffalo returned to egg Fiege on for more — pointing out there were three Avengers on stage. Responding to the rising audience demand for additional material, Fiege, playing along, relented and showed the first public footage from Avengers: Infinity War.

While the footage shown in many of Saturday’s panels was released to the public shortly following its debut in Hall H, the Marvel Studios footage remained unavailable elsewhere. While it’s a shame to keep the content from fans who couldn’t make it into Hall H — and it’s likely beneficial to the studios to have the material seen by the largest possible audience — I’m pleased Marvel is upholding the tradition of showing exclusive content to the fans who who camped out for hours (or even days) to get inside Hall H.

Comic Book Panels, Signings, and Awards

This year marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of famed comics artist and writer Jack Kirby. A number of this year’s comics-focused panels honored his legacy.

On Thursday, the panel “Jack Kirby’s Consciousness, Roger Zelazny’s Lord of Light, Barry Ira Geller, and the Real Argo” featured Barry Ira Geller and artist Mike Royer discussing Kirby’s work on a planned movie and science theme park based on Roger Zelazny’s novel, Lord of Light. While neither the movie nor the theme park materialized, the unproduced movie script and artwork were used as part of the scheme to rescue American diplomats who were in hiding Iran following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, events portrayed (in a fictionalized version) in Ben Affleck’s Oscar-winning film, Argo.

TwoMorrows’ publisher John Morrow, editor of Jack Kirby Collector Magazine, was featured in a spotlight panel on Friday. At the outset of the panel, Morrow was awarded an Inkpot Award by Comic-Con International’s Gary Sassaman.

Also on Friday was the “Jack Kirby: Friends and Family” panel with Kirby decedents Jeremy Kirby, Tracy Kirby, Lisa Kirby, and Jillian Kirby, along with artist and family friend Mike Thibodeaux and moderator Mark Evanier.

And, as always, Friday evening brought the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Ceremony, which is a wonderful event honor the women and men who create comics. Among the many awards given that evening, the members of the Kirby family accepted the Bill Finger award given to Jack Kirby for his writing.

Science Fiction Meets Real-World Science

While Comic-Con often features panels that look at the scientific underpinnings of fictional worlds of movies and television like Star Trek or Star Wars, this year saw a number of panels and events focusing on science in the real world.

New at Comic-Con this year was the Futurism and Tech Pavilion (an expansion of last year’s VR Con) with demonstrations of a wide range of immersive entertainment technology including virtual reality, 4D VR motion controlled chairs, and augmented reality goggles.

In the “Science Fiction, Science Future” panel, science fiction writers, including The Martian‘s Andy Weir, discussed the synergies between science fiction and science fact with scientists and engineers.

“No Tow Trucks Beyond Mars” featured engineers and scientists from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) discussing how the space program works to anticipate and avoid problems in interplanetary travel.

The “2017: The State of Iron Man Tech” panel, moderated by Dent the Future’s Steve Broback, featured inventor Richard Browning (who has developed a prototype jet-powered exosuit), actor and stunt woman Zoë Bell, NASA engineer Chris Gerty, and venture capitalist Adam Draper. That evening, Dent the Future hosted an informal get-together with Browning and Bell at San Diego’s Mission Brewery. While billed as an opportunity to see Browning’s jet suit, there were hints during the panel that Browning might do more than merely model the suit. And, indeed, midway through the gathering, people were given earplugs and asked to assemble outside the brewery where Browning flew around the parking area in his jet suit.

Marketing: From Ubiquitous Banners to Immersive Environments

Advertising takes over nearly every square inch of San Diego during Comic-Con. This year’s award for Most Ubiquitous Ad Campaign would likely go, as in other recent years, to TBS. This year the network was promoting People of Earth (replacing the Conan ads from the past two years). Ads promoting the series appeared on everything from the stairways and baggage carousels at San Diego International Airport to the large building wrap covering the upper floors of the Marriott Marquis.

The companion real estate on the Hilton Bayfront was occupied by wrap for FX’s Legion, which mercifully replaced the creepy banners for The Strain that occupied that location in the previous two years.

The most significant marketing activity at SDCC occurs on the large-scale activations that take place around San Diego. Virtual reality was all the rage at many of the immersive marketing events in recent years. While VR was still in evidence, several of the most popular marketing activations this year were geared toward physical installations and real-world interactions. Scavenger hunts were featured in the activations for The Tick and Mr. Robot. Meticulously constructed physical environments populated with actors formed the core of the events for Blade Runner 2049 (which also included an optional VR component), Mr. Robot, and Westworld.

The Tick Takeover, promoting Amazon’s forthcoming series, was a two-part activation. In the first section, fans could work the controls of the large tick antennae that towered over the sidewalk and rest on sofas while viewing the pilot episode of the series. In the second part, fans are first led into a reconstruction of a convenience store and are then whisked away into another room for a competitive scavenger hunt. Throughout the event, fans are required to answer a number of surveys in order to get free schwag.

More immersive was the Blade Runner 2049 Experience. Located in a large temporary structure, this event was also presented in two parts. The first was a 4D virtual reality experience — 360-degree video and sound with a synchronized motion chair. In the simulation, you’re piloting a spinner, the flying car in the show, in pursuit of a runaway replicant. The chase soars between the skyscrapers in Los Angeles of 2049, eventually ending with both vehicles crashing to the ground.

Once the virtual experience ends, you remove your headset to see the wall previously in front of the room as disappeared and you walk into a large scale reproduction of a street scene in Los Angeles 2049. The entire scene is suffused with a foggy haze. Actors wearing outrageous fashions interact with you. A chef prepares dishes at a noodle stand. Police keep an eye on things and, at one point, insist you submit to a Voight-Kampff test to verity you’re a human. There are also props from the film on display and, in an adjacent room a place to pick up noodles or drink vials of Johnnie Walker whisky.

Perhaps the most exclusive marketing event at this year’s Comic-Con was the Westworld Experience, which reportedly accommodated only 12 people per hour. The lucky few who were able to sign up for an appointment, were able to participate in an in-depth physical immersive experience. After being interviewed by a host, you were given a western hat — either white or black. Guests were then led to a full scale replica of the show’s Mariposa Saloon.

Also built around physical environments, along with a mysterious scavenger hunt, was this year’s Mr. Robot Experience. As with the Westworld Experience, this year’s event stood in contrast with last year’s Mr. Robot Experience, which combined a VR experience with a physical environment. That year’s hybrid experience reconstructed the Mr. Robot Repair Shop and the apartment of the show’s main character, and then launched into an extended, 13-minute virtual reality experience. [See On Technology and Media, “The Mr. Robot VR Experience, Storytelling, and the Future of Immersive Media.”]

This year, the Mr. Robot Repair Shop was closed, with condemned notices posted on a reconstruction of the building’s exterior. Open next door was the Bank of E, where fans could get a bank card loaded with 20 ECoin, the show’s fictional digital currency, that could be used to buy food and other items at many locations throughout San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter. At the Red Wheelbarrow BBQ, an establishment only hinted at in season 2 of the show but reportedly playing a larger role in season 3, fans could enjoy a pulled pork sandwich (supplied by Phil’s BBQ) with chips and a shake.

As if this weren’t enough, observant fans discovered hints that led them on a hunt to decode additional clues around town. When all the clues were collected, they revealed a phone number that directed participants to the final stage of the activation. Past a secret doorway, guards confiscate your cell phone to prevent photos or recordings, and then lead you down a hallway to a dark room that is a near-exact replica of the interrogation room in which Angela finds herself in season 2 episode 11. You’re seated in front of a table with a red telephone and an old Commodore 64 computer. A few 5-1/4 diskettes are scattered around. At the rear of the room is an illuminated fish tank. But where Angela was interrogated by a young girl, you’re sitting across the desk from a masked representative of the Dark Army. He asks a series of odd, somewhat intimidating questions: “How many times have you lied today?” “Animal, vegetable, or mineral?” “Are you afraid of the dark?” “What does one in the darkness seek?” After the interrogation, a phone rings. When answered, you hear the voice of Whiterose giving you a cryptic message that may contain clues about the direction of season 3 of the show. You’re then handed a manila envelope and told you have 30 seconds to review the contents. Inside are photos from the upcoming season of Mr. Robot.

While these immersive marketing events relied on real-world environments populated by actors, rather than virtual simulations, next year may reveal whether this was a single year deviation or the beginning of a trend. [For additional commentary, see Knowledge@Wharton, “Marketing at Comic-Con Gets Real (Again).”

SDCC 2017 ended for me, as it does each year, the Talk Back session, in which Comic-Con International President John Rogers listens to feedback from attendees on what went right and what went wrong (mostly what went wrong) at that year’s Comic-Con. In addition to the usual complaints about long lines and over-zealous security staff, this brought a new concern: allegations of counterfeit Hall H wristbands. Although these reports were unconfirmed, it was clear something went terribly awry regarding Hall H access on Saturday. After the 6,500-seat room was filled for the opening Warner Bros. panel that day, a significant number of fans with wristbands — which should have guaranteed access to the room — were still outside waiting in line. Rogers made it clear that Comic-Con International needs to “look into the security of the wristbands and how we tie that into people going forward.”

This past weekend, Wizard World Comic Con returned to Philadelphia with a show geared to expanding the audience beyond the usual comic book and superhero crowd. This year’s celebrity headliners were drawn from a wider array of fandom than the usual superhero and science fiction movies and TV shows. And, new this year, Wizard World partnered with Bloody Disgusting to present the Wizard World Horror Fest as an addition to the Philadelphia pop culture convention.

Wizard World CEO John Maatta.

At Wizard World Philadelphia 2016, newly-ensconced Wizard World CEO John Maatta stated his plan to “amp it up” with “better marketing and more content creation.” After expanding from 17 comic conventions in 2014 to 25 shows in 2015, Wizard World scaled back to 16 conventions in 2016. While originally announcing a slate of 16 shows for 2017, when I spoke with him at this year’s Philadelphia show, Maatta stated that announcements of additional dates — perhaps has many as ten — may be forthcoming.

While smaller markets may not have the audience of Wizard World’s largest shows in Chicago and Philadelphia, Maatta sees benefit in these venues “because the fans are so appreciative.” In his view there is less advantage in moving into a saturated market like Los Angeles.

The cast of Riverdale.

Regardless of the number of cons, the content of the Philadelphia show seemed designed to appeal to a broad audience with appearances by performers outside the usual comic book and sci-fi realm. Jesse Eisenberg, who played Lex Luther in Batman v Superman (but is perhaps better remembered as portraying Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network) was a featured celebrity. A popular panel featured the cast of the CW’s Riverdale. And Wizard World regular Michael Rooker from Guardians of the Galaxy was also in attendance. However, many of the other featured celebrities were drawn from other realms of pop culture, including KISS front man Gene Simmons and actors Chuck Norris and John Cusack.

While it’s tempting to view this year’s celebrity roster as an attempt to reduce booking fees for top tier talent, it may be more happenstance than intention. Maatta told me they company has offers out to major stars of current DC/Warner Bros. and other films this year. Maatta indicated his plan is to keep the show’s traditional core comic focus with artists and comics creators while expanding to a broader range of interests.

Maatta also highlighted the company’s aim of adding more entertainment to the show. An Entertainment Stage on the floor of the exhibition hall featured an eclectic array of acts, including musicians, magicians, and a hypnotist. The stage’s master of ceremonies was Kato Kaelin who, despite his unusual rise to fame as the world’s best known house guest, did a deft job of entertaining the crowd throughout each day of the show.

John Maatta inducts Rob Liefeld into the Wizard World Hall of Legends.

Jesse Eisenberg discussed his roles in Batman v Superman, The Social Network, and other films with Aaron Sagers.

Famke Janssen talked about her many popular portrayals — including Jean Grey in the X-Men movies; Xenia Onatopp in Goldeneye; and roles in Game of Thrones, all three Taken films, the Netflix original series Hemlock Grove, and ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder — with Aaron Sagers.

John Cusack spoke with Aaron Sagers about his many film roles from Say Anything…, and High Fidelity to Being John Malkovich, and 1408.

Wizard World favorite Michael Rooker regaled the audience with tales of his roles in Guardians of the Galaxy, The Walking Dead, and Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer. To get through everyone on line waiting to ask a question, Rooker left the stage and went one–by–one down the line to spend a moment with each fan.

KISS front man Gene Simmons hosted an interactive session with the audience and offered his advice on achieving success and profit. “Being selfish is good,” Simmons stated. “Think: Me, first,” noting that airlines’ safety procedures require passengers to first apply their own oxygen mask before helping others. Simmons also demonstrated how to gain personal power when greeting others. When another audience member asked “Is it ever enough?” Simmons unabashedly replied “It’s never enough.”

The Exhibition Hall included the expected assortment of vendors offering comic books and pop culture collectibles. The show floor also included a number of surprising booths, including live tarantulas and large insects at the Philadelphia Insectarium & Butterfly Pavilion booth, snake skeletons and mounted creatures from Darwin and Wallace, and both real and reproduction human skulls from RealHumanSkull.com. As has now become common, there was also the usual array of non-pop culture vendors. In addition to the usual booths by Geico insurance and an array of telecom providers including Verizon, T-Mobile, and Comcast/Xfinity, the show floor included a surprising number of health related booths, aimed as easing aches and pains which, given the rigors of a long day on the con floor, could be viewed as relevant to the event. The relevance of the booth from Risqué Boutiques with more intimate personal products was less clear.

The major comic cons — such as Comic-Con International’s San Diego event in the summer and ReedPOP’s New York Comic Con in the fall — feature a large assortment of pop culture events and activities. That presents a challenge for people who are interested in multiple aspects of popular media — movies, television shows, comic books, and more. There’s a great deal to see and, given the scale of these events, a great deal will be missed.

With that caveat, here is an overview of highlights from New York Comic Con 2016 from my perspective, with links to additional photos.

Still Expanding

This year New York Comic Con announced a record high in ticket sales, reporting sales of “at least 185,000 unique tickets,” up from 167,000 the previous year.

The Javits Center is still aglow as dusk falls on New York City.

As discussed last year [see “New York Comic Con 2015: Recap and Photo Highlights“], because of the different ways in which attendance is tallied, these numbers do not provide a meaningful basis of comparison with events run by other organizations. San Diego Comic-Con’s attendance numbers (reported as around 130,000), tallies unique attendees, many of which hold more than one ticket for different days, making head-to-head comparisons with New York’s “tickets” count infeasible. Nonetheless, New York Comic Con’s ticket number does provide an indicator of the relative increase in the size of this festival year over year.

Another indicator of the growing scale of the event is the increase in venue space. Last year, New York Comic Con grew beyond the confines of the Javits Center to include panels in the 2,200-seat Hammerstein Ballroom. This year, the expansion continued further into midtown Manhattan with the addition of events at the Theater at Madison Square Garden and, for BookCon (a companion event run by New York Comic Con’s ReedPOP), the Hudson Marcantile venue.

Following the Iron Fist panel, Loeb welcomed The Punisher‘s Jon Bernthal to the stage. Bernthal was then joined by Deborah Ann Woll, who plays Karen Page in Marvel’s Daredevil the forthcoming series The Punisher and The Defenders.

Loeb then assembled on stage for the first time the central cast of Marvel’s The Defenders: Charlie Cox, Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter, and Finn Jones. The crowd, as you might expect, went crazy. As a final surprise, it was announced that the role of Alexandra, the villain in The Defenders, would be played by Sigourney Weaver, who then joined the other cast members on stage.

While the Marvel panel was a highlight of the con, other new television and streaming series were also well represented.

A session by industry trends and analysis firm ICv2 included Vivek Tiwary‘s inspiring talk about his graphic novel The Fifth Beatle, followed by ICv2 CEO Milton Griepp‘s discussion of the future of retail in the comic book industry. Heidi MacDonald then introduced revered industry veteran Karen Berger who gave an insightful discussion of the current state of the industry.

Marketing Events

The large pop culture events like New York Comic Con and San Diego Comic-Con have become showplaces for large scale — and highly entertaining — marketing activities by major media companies.

As in past years, New York Comic Con was peppered with marketing booths by several brands unrelated to popular culture. Chevrolet was once again a featured sponsor. Geico‘s ubiquitous advertising has become a staple at several large cons, including New York Comic Con.

Welcome to Westworld.

Many of the major marketing installations, however, were for popular television programs. Interactive environments set up just outside the Javits Center included the South Park 20 Experience, with life-sized standups of many of the South Park characters, and an Ash vs. the Evil Dead walk-though installation.

Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle Virtual Experience, which was on display at San Diego Comic-Con over the summer, made a return appearance at New York Comic Con, although it didn’t include the large museum component seen at San Diego.

A Westworld host greets you.

One of the most compelling marketing events combined an interactive virtual experience with an impressive physical reconstruction of the world of HBO’s Westworld. A short distance from the Javits Center a staid, corporate-looking building was marked with the Westworld logo. Inside, the white-clad “hosts” — playing the role of the show’s lifelike automatons — take you down a corridor that leads to a virtual reality experience that places you in universe of Westworld. This combination of a physical, constructed environment melded with a virtual experience is the high point of the marketing experiences at the con. [For a more detailed description of the Westworld VR experience, see Knowledge@Wharton, “Entering Westworld: VR Marketing at New York Comic Con“]

Comic Book Creators

Jean-Claude Mézières and Luc Besson.

A primary focus for me at Comic Con is photographing portraits of the men and women who create comic books. This year’s New York Comic Con featured a number of storied creators. I was pleased to have the opportunity this year to take a portrait of the great Frank Miller. And, in a moment of serendipitous Comic Con magic, I stumbled across a signing event with filmmaker Luc Besson, promoting his forthcoming film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, and artist Jean-Claude Mézières, who illustrated the original Valérian comics.

And… Cosplay

Cosplay at New York Comic Con.

While I don’t typically focus on cosplay photography, it’s always fun to capture some of the creative costumes roaming the convention center. I’m particularly fond of seeing early Steve Ditko creations, like the Mac Gargan version of the Scorpion I spotted this year. Another favorite was the WW I version of the Red Skull.

For a full visual recap of New York Comic Con 2016 in 300-plus photos, see the Flickr album, “New York Comic Con 2016“:

Virtual reality (VR) had a significant presence at ReedPop’s New York Comic Con this year. A dedicated exhibition space on the lower level of the Javits Center, dubbed the Experiential Zone, demonstrated a number of approaches to virtual reality and immersive cinema for both entertainment and marketing.

Entrance to the Westworld VR Experience.

One of the most compelling examples of using virtual reality for a marketing experience didn’t take place inside the Javits Center, however. A half block away on West 37th Street, HBO’s Westworld VR Experience presented a combination physical environment and virtual experience to promote the network’s sci-fi series.

The Westworld VR Experience debuted a month earlier at TechCrunch Disrupt SF. At New York Comic Con, the virtual simulation was enhanced by a physical space that set the stage for the immersive experience.

Hybrid Physical/Virtual Environment

This type of hybrid physical/virtual environment has been featured in a number of recent high profile marketing “activations” (as the industry terms them). At this past summer’s San Diego Comic-Con, Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle VR Experience combined a virtual simulation with a constructed environment designed to recreate the world of the program. (The Man in the High Castle VR Experience was also present in New York Comic Con’s Experiential Zone, but without the physical installation preceding the VR experience.) The most notable recent blending of real world and virtual environments as part of a marketing activation was the Mr. Robot Virtual Reality Experience at San Diego Comic-Con. After entering a detailed reconstruction of the bedroom of the show’s protagonist, Elliot Alderson, you then enter a VR simulation that begins in the very room in which you’re sitting. It’s an uncanny sensation.

Welcome to Westworld.

New York Comic Con’s Westworld activation presents a similar experience that transitions from the real world to the virtual.

A short distance from the Javits Center, a sleek facade with frosted glass doors displays the logo: “Westworld: A Delos Destination.” Inside you enter a lustrous black and glass corridor and are greeted by performers playing the role of Westworld’s “hosts,” the program’s synthetic humans. Dressed in white and speaking in eerily measured tones, the hosts welcome you to Westworld.

Your host greets you.

After a few introductory comments — and warnings about violence and nudity in the virtual experience — you stand in the center of a black room, empty except for a chair in the corner. An assistant helps you don your HTC Vive VR headset and audio headphones, and you grasp your Vive controller. You’re also told that should you feel uncomfortable during the experience you can raise your hand and the assistant will help you end the experience (advice that’s both comforting yet somehow unnerving).

In many of these interactive simulations, including The Man in the High Castle Experience and the Mr. Robot VR Experience, the participant remains seated at the center of a 360-degree virtual environment. In the Westworld Experience, by contrast, you can move around to a limited degree within the environment. This can be disconcerting, since you’re moving through a physical space you can’t see. To avoid accidentally running into the walls, the simulation displays a series of bars floating in space if you move too close to the edge.

Entering Westworld

The Westworld simulation plays out over three brief tableaux. It begins with you entering a room where you select your weapon and decide whether you want to wear a white or a black hat. The simulation closely follows the scene in episode 2 of the program where new Westworld guest William (Jimmi Simpson) is presented with a similar set of choices. (When I went through the virtual experience, I hadn’t yet seen this episode. When I finally watched it, it gave me an eerie sense of déjà vu.)

Inside the Westworld simulation, the sheriff approaches.

After making these choices, you enter the western setting familiar from the show. A row of wooden buildings stands beside sandstone cliffs under a wide, blue sky. After picking up ammunition and loading your revolver, you engage in target practice by shooting bottles.

A sheriff then ambles over to recruit you to join a posse. But before that gets underway, the sheriff starts to glitch. Something’s not right here.

You’re instructed to move over to the chair in the corner. (This is one of the more bizarre aspects of the simulation. Contacting a physical object in a space that you perceive through a virtual simulation is an odd experience.)

Once seated, the setting changes to the Delos lab where simulated humans are being created and repaired. With the ability to look in any direction, you can survey the entire scene. Things are glitching here as well. Your vision falters and lights flash. There’s a commotion in the lab. A synthetic human is out of control. Things are clearly breaking down in Westworld.

The Throughput Conundrum: Does It Scale?

As impressive as the simulation is, it has one constraint as a marketing tool: throughput. The interactive experience lasts 11 minutes. Allowing time for a brief introduction and exit, sessions are scheduled in 15 minute blocks. At New York Comic Con, there were two rooms that ran simultaneously. Thus, eight people per hour can participate in the experience, which runs for nine hours each day for a total of 72 people per day, or 288 participants throughout the four days of the convention.

This is obviously a small fraction of the attendees at the con. (Because New York Comic Con reports the number of tickets sold, rather than the number of unique individuals, it’s difficult to know exactly how many people attend the event.)

This approach leverages the buzz generated by the hardcore fans who attend Comic Con, while also gaining a larger audience through the simulcast, and then further expands the piece’s reach through the on-demand offerings.

As VR plays an expanding role in marketing, expect to see more of this layered approach to reach a broadest possible audience for these rich, interactive experiences.

Reports on San Diego Comic-Con always read like the story of the blind men describing an elephant. The scope of the event is so broad, its scale so large, that each attendee can only experience a small sliver of the long weekend’s activities.

This was Comic-Con International: San Diego 2016 from my perspective.

Because of my interest in the media marketing that accompanies Comic-Con, Wednesday afternoon before Preview Night provided a good opportunity to explore the branding and the media installations around the Convention Center and throughout San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter.

Back in the real world, it was time to head to the Convention Center for the official opening of the con with Preview Night. For many, Preview Night is a mad rush to get first dibs on exclusive collectible items. I use it as an opportunity to visit the comic book creators in Artist Alley and elsewhere before the crush of the crowds in the subsequent days of the con. [See, “Be a Con-trarian: Go Against the Flow at Comic-Con.”] While San Diego Comic-Con attracts numerous high-profile movie and TV celebrities, I always enjoy the opportunity to meet the men and women who write, draw, and publish the comic books that form the basis of so much of our popular culture.

Thursday began with a second opportunity to experience Sam Email’s immersive Mr. Robot 360-degree film. Rather than taking place in the reconstruction of Elliot’s apartment, this second viewing was in Petco Park with cast members Rami Malek, Christian Slater, Portia Doubleday, Carly Chaikin, and Grace Gummer viewing the virtual experience along with the audience. At one point, while the audience members were still in the virtual world, Malek left the stage and sat in the crowd, surprising the adjacent audience members once the simulation ended.

First Timers and Old Regulars

Given the 47-year history of San Diego Comic-Con, it’s surprising to discover major popular culture icons who have never attended the event. This year a number of notable artists made their first appearances at San Diego Comic-Con.

Oliver Stone and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Oliver Stone made his inaugural appearance at Comic-Con to promote his forthcoming film, Snowden, along with cast members Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, and Zachary Quinto.

Luc Besson.

Similarly new to Comic-Con this year was Luc Besson, who brought producer Virginie Besson-Silla and actors Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne to present concept artwork and early footage from his film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Comic-Con International Senior Director of Programming Eddie Ibrahim presented Besson with an Inkpot award for his contributions to popular culture.

William Gibson.

Also appearing at Comic-Con for the first time was famed cyberpunk writer William Gibson. Gibson also received a Comic-Con International Inkpot award for his contributions to science fiction.

Dark Horse Presents: Conversations with Joss Whedon.

In contrast to these Comic-Con newcomers, Friday brought back to Hall H longtime fan favorite, writer/director Joss Whedon, who answered audience questions and hinted at future projects. He gave scant details about his current project, other than to say it was something new — neither a sequel nor a franchise piece. In response to an audience question, he reiterated his intention to eventually produce a follow-up to Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, stating it would not be a prequel but, rather, focus on events following the original series. Work on this project isn’t imminent, however, since other members of the creative team (like Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancheron) are currently busy with other projects.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone discuss ‘South Park’.

Following Whedon, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone discussed their 20 years of working on the animated series, moderated by host Chris Hardwick.

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards.

Friday evening always brings the annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards ceremony, honoring the work of comic book writers, artists, and publishers. With industry notables and surprise guests, the event is always a high point of Comic-Con for me each year.

Big Shows in Hall H on Saturday

While each day in Hall H brings panels with notable celebrity appearances and exclusive content, Saturday is the day coveted by the major studios for their showpiece events.

With a number of major movie studios, including 20th Century Fox, Paramount Studios, and Sony Pictures, skipping Hall H this year, on Saturday the room was dominated by two studios: Warner Bros. at the start of the day and Marvel Studios at day’s end (before the annual Kevin Smith panel). It’s worth noting that although they skipped Hall H, Paramount made a big splash in San Diego this year with the world premiere of Star Trek Beyond, Sony brought a Sausage Party screening and cast appearance to the Horton Grand Theatre, and Fox television programming had a significant presence at Comic-Con.

Eddie Redmayne distributes magic wands in Hall H.

Arriving late in Hall H that day, I missed most of the Warner Bros. panel. As I entered the cavernous room near the end of the WB presentation, I almost ran into Eddie Redmayne as he raced around the floor handing out magic wands to fans to promote Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Cast member celebrate the 50th anniversary of ‘Star Trek’.

After Warner Bros., the panel celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original Star Trek television series brought together cast members from several generations of the TV series: William Shatner, Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn, Jeri Ryan, and Scott Bakula in a session moderated by Bryan Fuller, showrunner and co-creator of CBS’ new forthcoming Star Trek series.

Cast and crew celebrate the 30th anniversary of ‘Aliens’.

The panel following Star Trek marked another anniversary of a popular science fiction franchise: the 30th anniversary of Aliens. On stage for the event were Aliens writer/director James Cameron, producer Gale Anne Hurd, and cast members Sigourney Weaver, Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser, Michael Biehn, and Carrie Henn (who portrayed Newt in the film).

Next up in Hall H was the annual Entertainment Weekly: Women Who Kick Ass panel moderated by EW’s Nicole Sperling, featuring an array of women who portray strong female roles on television and the movies: Morena Baccarin, Melissa Benoist, Nathalie Emmanuel, Lucy Lawless, Tatian Maslany, Connie Nielsen, and Ming-Na Wen.

Marvel Studios then capped the day with a session that featured cast members and exclusive clips from several of the company’s upcoming feature films introduced by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and moderated by the ever-present Chris Hardwick.

Smoke then filled the stage and sides of the auditorium along with abstract patterns of projected light. The smoke cleared to reveal Doctor Strange actor Benedict Cumberbatch at center stage. Joining Cumberbatch was Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson and cast members Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Mads Mikkelsen, Clyde Kusatsu. The Doctor Strange presentation included new footage and the debut of a new trailer.

The cast of ‘Spider-Man Homecoming’.

Next up was Spider-Man Homecoming actor Tom Holland, joined by director Jon Watts and cast members Laura Harrier, Tony Revolori, Jacob Batalon, and Zendaya. A brief comedic video segment showed scenes of Peter Parker trying to balance his daily life at school with his responsibilities as a superhero.

The cast of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’.

Director James Gunn next took the stage — along a cadre of fully-costumed Ravengers — for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Gunn then introduced cast members Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista, Elizabeth Debicki, and Kurt Russell (who was revealed to be playing Peter Quill’s father). Gunn also announced that Disney would be opening a theme park attraction based on the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. The Hall H crowd also saw a clip from the film and a new trailer.

Brie Larson joins the Marvel family as Captain Marvel.

Finally, Feige confirmed the long-held rumor that Brie Larson would play Captain Marvel in the movie slated for Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. Larson joined the cast members from all the films for a Marvel family portrait.

Wrapping Up on Sunday

Sunday provided the opportunity to visit some of the marketing activations I hadn’t yet seen, including the Timeless time travel ride (built around that old amusement park classic, the Gravitron), Adult Swim on the Green, and the Son of Zornrock climb and giant leap into an air bag (the latter pair of which I merely observed rather than participating in). After the virtual reality experiences of Mr. Robot and The Man in the High Castle, these decidedly non-virtual activities were an interesting change of pace.

Moved from its original 480-seat room, the Pokémon GO panel fills the 6,500-seat Hall H.

Sunday’s final Hall H panel was originally slated for a much smaller room. Back in April 2016, Comic-Con International was coordinating with gaming company Niantic to present a panel on their augmented reality game Ingress. When the programming schedule for Comic-Con 2016 was released — as usual, just two weeks before the event — Niantic was scheduled to speak about Ingress and a new game they planned to launch, Pokémon GO. Shortly afterwards, Pokémon GO debuted and quickly became the hottest thing on Internet. Comic-Con International quickly changed the schedule to move the panel from its Thursday time slot in a modest 480-seat room to the last available spot on Sunday in the 6,500-seat Hall H. While this initially seemed like overkill, it proved otherwise. The enormous auditorium was packed on Sunday afternoon.

Niantic CEO John Hanke addresses the Hall H crowd.

Host Chris Hardwick interviewed Niantic’s CEO, John Hanke for the session. Fans’ expectations that Hall H events bring big surprises caused many to assume that a special, rare Pokémon creature would appear in the hall for attendees to capture. But, alas, CEO Hanke seemed somewhat taken aback by the amped up expectations of the Hall H crowd, and no special creatures were to be found.

Comic-Con International President John Rogers ready to respond to fans at the Talk Back session.

As in past years, my final session at Comic-Con was the Talk Back session in which Comic-Con International president John Rogers responds to questions and complaints from attendees. This year, Rogers and Comic-Con International Director of Programming Eddie Ibrahim made a valiant effort to keep the session on schedule, only running roughly 15 minutes over the allotted one hour time slot in contrast to the two-plus hour sessions in past years. While the Talk Back can be a rather dour way to end the con, it offers insights into the choices made by Comic-Con International in running the complex event. For a good recap of the key points from this year’s Talk Back session, see the report from ConShark.

Virtual reality was a significant presence in the marketing experiences at Comic-Con International: San Diego this year. Both at the booths inside the Convention Center and the offsite events throughout downtown San Diego, a number of movie studios, television networks, and video game companies presented VR experiences designed to generate buzzworthy excitement in attendees. From Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle to Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty to Rocksteady’s Batman Arkham VR, fans throughout Comic-Con were donning virtual reality headsets.

Among the most impressive of these was the Mr. Robot Virtual Reality Experience written and directed by Mr. Robot creator and showrunner Sam Esmail, and developed for USA Network by Here Be Dragons and Within.

Rows of fans immersed in the Mr. Robot VR experience in Petco Park.

For an advertising piece, the VR experience ran a surprisingly long 13 minutes. One of the constraints of this type of marketing event is throughput — the number of people who can cycle through the event each hour. Of course, Sam Esmail is famous for turning in episodes of the Mr. Robot television program that run longer than their intended time slot, even going so far as to apologize on Twitter recently for doing so.

Cast members view the Mr. Robot VR experience at Petco Park.

The Mr. Robot VR Experience was available from several locations during San Diego Comic-Con, including in white Uber vans designed to resemble Mr. Robot repair vehicles driving around the Gaslamp Quarter and at an event with the show’s cast at Petco Park. It was also broadcast live during the Petco Park event, allowing fans not attending Comic-Con to share the experience (in what an NBC/Universal press release described as “largest-ever co-viewing virtual reality simulcast event”). Subsequently, the VR segment has been made available for on-demand viewing on home devices, mobile phones, and desktop systems.

The most effective venue for the virtual reality experience, however, was a pop-up installation constructed in downtown San Diego that featured a physical, real-world environment that cleverly blended with the virtual content.

The sign above the Mr. Robot repair shop in downtown San Diego for Comic-Con.

From inside a reconstruction of Elliot’s apartment, you enter the virtual world…

After taking a seat and putting on a Samsung Gear headset and a pair of headphones, the real world is replaced by the virtual. The virtual environment you initially enter is, somewhat surprisingly, Elliot’s apartment — essentially identical to the physical location in which you’re actually sitting. There’s a noteworthy exception, however: As you turn your head, Elliot (played by Rami Malek) is sitting beside you.

While narratively working as a flashback — the video covers events that occurred before the time frame of show’s first season — it is, in fact, a contemporary memory. We’re experiencing Elliot’s current recollections of a much earlier event.

…the virtual world of Elliot’s apartment with Elliot sitting next to you.

The voice we hear, Rami Malek’s Elliot, is the voice inside his head. As he does in the TV show, Elliot is simultaneously thinking to himself and narrating his inner thoughts to us, his ever-present, but unseen, companion.

Elliot is about to go on a first date with Shayla, a character we know from the first season of the show. In those TV episodes, Shayla is Elliot’s friend, drug supplier, and occasional lover. In the VR experience, Elliot is recalling their first encounter and how deeply he wants to avoid seeing her, how painful he finds these artificially-constructed social situations.

As Elliot smokes a joint, the camera floats upward toward the ceiling and we now view the scene from this more disengaged perspective. We follow Elliot and Shayla on their date to Coney Island and join them as they ride on a Ferris wheel, the VR simulation providing a dramatic 360-degree view of the surroundings. As their relationship grows closer, the scene melds into an abstract sequence with the two characters dancing in silhouette against a color-shifting background. Finally we return back to the “reality” of the apartment in the virtual world — and, again, in the real world when we remove the Samsung Gear headsets.

In its 13 minutes, Esmail’s piece runs the gamut from realistically grounded to surrealistically untethered and back again. As the locations change throughout the piece, the mood swings from reticence to euphoria to tragic loss.

The Mr. Robot VR video assumes we’re familiar with season 1 of the show, and uses that information as a backstory to make an immediate emotional connection. (Spoiler alert if you haven’t seen the first season of Mr. Robot.) Because of what we know of the series, Shayla’s plea for Elliot to remember her gains a profoundly melancholy dimension. We, like Elliot, feel sorrow and desperation as he struggles to hold on to his recollection of her as his memory falters and fades. It’s an emotionally powerful moment.

Aside from being a compelling VR experience, Email’s piece also an example of the power of transmedia storytelling. While based on what we know about the television series, it expands the narrative into new territory. It offers new details on the relationship between Elliot and Shayla and adds emotional depth to his feelings of loss and guilt. It’s a powerful work that both stands on its own as a self-contained 13-minute vignette and adds additional depth to television episodes.

The image from the Mr. Robot Virtual Reality Experience is from a copyrighted film, the copyright for which is most likely owned by the film’s production company and/or distributor and possibly also by any actors appearing in the image. It is believed that the use of a web-resolution screenshot for identification and critical commentary on the film and its contents qualifies as fair use under United States copyright law.

There’s a joyful nostalgia in looking back at photos from previous comic cons, recalling the clever cosplay, the rousing panel sessions and celebrity appearances, and the encounters with friends old and new. I’m also struck by how often the creators of hugely popular movies, TV shows, and comic books — people who now fill the largest rooms at the con — were, just a few years ago, appearing in modestly attended panels in small, intimate rooms.

Felicia Day has returned to San Diego Comic-Con in subsequent years, hosting panels in progressively larger venues. This year, as with last year, Day along with friends and colleagues from her production company Geek and Sundry will hold court in the 2663-seat Indigo Ballroom and host offset events in Petco Park.

Gareth Edwards talks ‘Monsters’ at New York Comic Con 2010.

At ReedPop’s New York Comic Con 2010 , director Gareth Edwards played clips from his first feature film, Monsters, in a small room, sparsely filled with attendees. Following the presentation, Edwards hung around the Magnet Releasing booth, chatting with anyone who stopped by. With a minimal production budget, the film grossed $4,242,978 worldwide and catapulted Edwards to Hollywood, where he directed the 2014 blockbuster Godzilla, which amassed a worldwide gross of $529,076,069. Edwards is currently directing the next installment in the Star Wars franchise, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Later than evening, Gunn introduced a free screening of the film. Plenty of seats were available for last-minute, walk-in attendees. The film grossed a modest $327,716 on a budget of $2.5 million. Yet Gunn’s quirky directorial style effectively navigated the film’s shifts in tone from broad comedy to fierce action-drama, and led to his next major project: helming Marvel’s summer mega-hit Guardians of the Galaxy, which pulled in a worldwide gross of $773,312,399.

At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, Gunn is expected to be back again, introducing the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 in the event’s largest venue, the 6,500-seat Hall H. Unlike at WonderCon five years earlier, when walking in at the beginning of the session was sufficient to secure a seat, gaining access to Hall H on Saturday this year — which includes major presentations by Warner Bros. and Marvel Studios, among others — will likely require camping out in line starting Friday Night.

Each year’s Comic-Con includes pop culture creators poised to shake up the world with their forthcoming projects. My advice: Rather than camping out for hours in hopes of entering Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con, check out some of the events in the smaller rooms. You might gain an early glimpse of the future.